As the million ton ball of hungry flesh drifted towards them, the Council and Executor Pallin spoke on what should be done about the new issue at hand. Of course, this was not something any of them had prepared for.
"So what, do we shoot it?" asked Pallin.
"And turn a Blacklight cannonball into a buckshot? No, shooting that thing won't help at all. Jobol, what options do we have for getting that... flesh meteor out of the way?" asked Sparatus.
"Not much really. As you said explosions and the like wouldn't work. With less than an hour there is only so much we could do. The mass is large, and weighs more than even the largest dreadnought... Wait, Tevos, is the Destiny Ascension with the fleets, and if so how close is it to the Blacklight meteor?",\ asked Jobol.
Tevos went to her omni tool. After a few moments she turned back to Jobol.
"They are following the orb at a steady pace and keeping their distance." said Tevos.
"Then this might work. Our best shot now is the fleets already out there, specifically the Destiny Ascension. Not its weapons, but its mass. Its size allows it to function as a Gravity Tractor. By using its gravitational field we could essentially tow the biomass just enough to miss the Citadel. At the moment the Citadels greater mass is what is causing the Blacklight Biomass to head towards us. The Destiny Ascension can cause it to miss us, and once it has we have it move just enough where the Biomass won't be caught in the Gravity Well of the Citadel again." said Jobol.
"I will contact Matriarch Lidanya. Jobol can send the required information to her and she will be able to handle it." said Tevos.
"There is the issue of time, we have less than forty minutes to get the ship into place. I have the calculations ready, I will send the information to Commander Lidanya. Are you sure she can handle this Tevos?" asked Jobol.
"I would stake my life on it." said Tevos.
"You two work out the issue with that ball of biomass, Pallin and I will keep Blackwatch informed and keep the fight against whatever these things are." said Sparatus.
"And if some other horrible thing happens, just don't tell me about it." said Pallin.
"Now is not the time for games Pallin." said Tevos.
"I am keeping my spirits up. Lets just get to work."
"Very well, good luck Sparatus." said Tevos.
"And to you."
Matriarch Lidanya, commander of the Destiny Ascension, watched as the biomass ball was slowly pulled towards the Citadel. It really was massive, even dwarfing the Destiny Ascension by a small but noticeable margin. Thus far the Citadel Fleet was following the Ball, but keeping its distance and waiting for orders. After only a few minutes they came in. Tevos and Jobol contacted her. Lidanya wondered where Sparatus was, but decided it was not of much importance at the moment.
"Matriarch Lidanya, Jobol has a plan for dealing with the biomass meteor." said Tevos.
"Thank the Goddess. What do we have to do?" asked Lidanya.
"We are going to have you move close to the biomass itself. The mass of the Destiny Ascension will allow it to create just enough of a gravitational pull to alter the trajectory that it will miss the Citadel completely. What can you tell me about its actions?" asked Jobol.
"The surface is constantly squirming, stretching, and undulating. It keeps folding in on itself and changing shape." said Lidanya.
"That makes things difficult, the pull could cause it to stretch and deform. I hate to say it, but it is still our best bet.", said Jobol.
"A small chance is still a chance Jobol." said Tevos.
"Indeed. Matriarch Lidanya, I need you to get as close as I say to the biomass meteor and get where I say near the ball. Once there you will gently accelerate upwards of that position according to the information I will send you. The cylindrical shape of the Citadel combined with its relatively small mass compared to a planet should give you enough time to get it where we need it to be. Have multiple ships around key points of the ball to keep it structurally sound, it should increase the pull and save the Citadel from disaster. If it misses you will then lead it towards an area where it will not pose a danger." said Jobol.
"Understood. Give me everything and I will take care of it. I won't fail." said Lidanya.
"I hope you are right. Sending you the relevant data now. Good luck Matriarch. May your goddess be with you." said Jobol.
I sincerely hope this isn't all you have. You have been reduced to a mere 300 million minds and shrinking. You have given us so much already. Inusannon genes, Reaper Knowledge, quite a bit in fact.
YOUR ARROGANCE IS NOTED. I DELETED NOTABLE DATA FROM MY MEMORY BANKS. YOU DO NOT HAVE AS MUCH AS YOU THINK. WE HAVE ALREADY ESTABLISHED CONSUMING A REAPER ONLY LEADS TO THIS. WHAT COULD YOU LEARN FROM IT?
A truly brilliant mind is one that takes what little is given to him, and use it to its fullest. Genius comes from working within restrictions. Even so, we won't be consuming any more Reapers. We won't need to. You are not as powerful as you think. Your only distinction is being more insane than any mind that has ever entered our hive.
BE SILENT.
You're a stagnant breed whose main advantage is that you stagnated at a level of tech far beyond most. The Protheans were close to surpassing you, particle weapons being something you had not yet developed, and the were very close to building their own mass relay. It's all here in your memories.
BE SILENT.
They were not the first ones either. There were others who got very close. You allow them to advance to a level just below you, and destroy them before they equal you. With this knowledge we will make sure our allies surpass you in every way.
Like a tsunami the sea of consciousness rose and flooded the Inusannon, killing even more of Nazara, though many still remained. Nazara attacked back, using the same swarming as before. Only, at their low numbers it was much less effective.
Time is running out Nazara. Our calculations show you cannot maintain this for very long.
Four eyes watched as the Biomass had held strong. The Prothean-Thorian Avatar nodded as he looked to the surrounding Thorian Creepers. They hissed and watched in anticipation. The Biomass fell again back into puddles of twitching flesh.
'How much longer must I wait. Are they worthy of Symbiosis or not?'
The Avatar of the Thorian sat down, legs crossed as he stared unblinking at the slowly moving Biomass. Idly, he wondered if this was going to be Blacklight's permanent fate. He supposed not, considering each time the form held longer and longer. Still it was worrying. An emerald colored corona of biotic energy emanated from the Prothean Avatar as he waited, getting more anxious with each passing moment.
Chemical throwers were aimed forward as Blackwatch marched through the civilian district. Like the markets, the homes and apartments were covered with trash haphazardly scattered around the grounds as civilians attempted to escape however they could. The Zakera ward was one of the most active areas on the Citadel, and to see it reduced to a ghost town was both disturbing and alien.
Still, the soldiers of Blackwatch were nothing if not professional and they moved with purpose through the area, eyes kept on every possible location. As they moved, one of the soldiers knelt down over a puddle of clear colored gel. He only examined it, not daring to put his fingers in the unknown material.
"What is it?", asked one of the other soldiers.
"Unknown. Do we take a sample?"
"No, our mission is the containment and eradication of the infestation. Burn it.", said the Captain.
The soldier nodded as he sprayed fire on the puddle. The soldiers moved forward. As they did they could hear the fain sounds of chattering teeth and insect legs scraping against metal. Weapons were raised high as they examined the walls and vents waiting for something to pop out.
As they moved carefully they were being watched by things that crawled in the walls. Hidden monsters watched and waited for them to misstep. One mistake and they would strike. Blackwatch knew the monsters were there, they just didn't know where they were.
As they moved further into the district they saw that the creatures had torn the area apart. Long hanging electrical wires hung limply from holes in the ceiling and walls had been ripped apart, many of them looking like they had been chewed on.
One of the soldiers walked forward, his flamethrower in hand as he looked carefully at the wires from a safe distance. His helmet allowed him to zoom into the hanging wired without having to approach. The strange clear fluids were dripping down some of the wires, the fluids seemed to trickle from several holes in the wires themselves, as if they had been gnawed on by the strange creatures they found themselves fighting. Seeing the fluids, the soldier prepared to incinerate them. They knew little about the creatures, and it was possible the chemical carried pathogens of some kind, and any possible methods of infection was commanded to be dealt with swiftly and efficiently. He lifted his flame thrower and released blue fire.
He almost flinched when an unearthly scream came from above and some of the wires began to flail in pain.
When it became apparent that the Reaper Things were hiding their tentacles among the wires the others released gouts of intense flames upwards to the holes the wires hung from. As the fire coalesced into a raging conflagration, they heard the mourning bellow of the beasts screams. Almost immediately a massive flaming Reaper Thing fell through the fire hit the ground with a meaty thump, it was flailing in pain as its tendrils lashed out in all directions. Two soldiers adjusted their aim to fire upon the fallen creator as the others continued firing at past the hole where the others hid. A few more fell as the heat intensified and the fires slowly turned them to ash.
As the beasts made their last twitch more screams came from the surrounding area. From hidden crevices and from behind fallen scattered fragments of debris, the creatures leapt out like mad varren towards the soldiers who quickly pointed their weaponry at the swarm and released chemical fire and decontamination fluids. Bloodtox gas exploded from the last of their grenades as they fought against the ambush.
The Reaper things' teeth began to chatter as they moved around the building with an unnatural agility. Their flesh would bubble as cancerous mouths began to grow along their forms shouting the location of each and every beast. The aid of that warning allowed Blackwatch to incinerate each monster that came out.
The pained screams that sounded almost like an old emergency siren filled the area as choking smoke billowed upwards and decontamination liquid pooled on the floors. Charred remains of the Reaper Things were twitching as they attempted to leave, many of them dissolved in the chemicals that melted them as much as Blacklight acid melted anything else.
Blackwatch lost almost no one, however as the swarming beasts came their ammunition began to run out. Several minutes of continued spray had caused their reserves to dwindle, and they were all out of Bloodtox grenades. It became so desperate that they began throwing their Bloodtox mines into the coming swarm.
Flamethrowers tanks were draining fast and the swarm never seemed to end. Of course as Blackwatch fought in the real world something else fought within.
Nazara's swarming tactics had begun to falter as Blacklight minds fought with experience. Even with his initial several billion minds he fought like an insect, swarming everything he could, while Blacklight fought using methods much more complicated.
The realm that was their Hive Mind may have only bent to their will on a superficial level, but even so, within it Blacklight was king. With the architect of the Hive Mind and the mother of the virus themselves, even the Reaper was slowly eroding away.
The Destiny Ascension was flying diagonally above to the biomass' path. The massive ship was moving at the same speed while steadily continuing to move the ball with her own ships' gravitational pull upwards of her current position.
As Jobol predicted, the ball did deform towards the ship but it was still being pulled, albeit slower than expected. Others from the Citadel Fleet spread out to allow the ball to keep its shape, but even still it would stretch unnaturally. The massive size of the Citadel made this task much harder than it needed to be, and the almost gelatinous nature of the writhing ball of flesh only allowed them to slowly change its trajectory.
They had managed to move it just enough to buy them a little more time, but not that much, merely a minute or two more. Still, to Lidanya even a minute could mean the different between living and dying.
The once ball now possessed an ellipsoid shape due to the gravitational forces required to move the thing. With other ships surrounding it they hoped the ball would remain structurally sound and not tear to pieces. Thus far it looked to be working.
Jobol watched it all as his face remained on the screen. He nodded to himself a few times before looking back to Lidanya on his screen.
"Current estimates show that should this continue we will be able to prevent a collision. The biomass is continuing to deform, but it is moving in the direction we want. If it is not enough it will at the very least give us a bit more time." said Jobol.
"What are the chances it breaks apart?" asked Lidanya.
"Unfortunately I can't tell you that. Blacklight's nature makes its density, elasticity, and structural integrity difficult to know for certain at any given moment. It could conceivably fall apart at any minute, but that is what the other ships are for, to ensure not too much stress is put on the biomass in any single direction while allowing you to put it on the needed trajectory. It is better to pull a varren from the sides than by the nose." said Jobol.
"What a strange metaphor." said the navigator next to Lidanya.
"I wish the thing would just freeze making this whole lot simpler." commented Lidanya offhand.
"Well... Thermodynamics being what they are, combined with its size and whatever processes may be going on in the biomass' cells, that would take anywhere from weeks to maybe even months or years to freeze solid, which is time we don't have. It's not going to flash freeze. We're far enough away from a star where it could potentially freeze, but you see, space isn't really cold, just..." said Jobol before he noticed Lidanya was staring at him rather blankly.
"I command a star ship. I know how space works. That was just wishful thinking Councilor." said Lidanya.
"...Just continue with the plan and the disaster should be avoided.", said Jobol.
"I understand Councilor. What is the situation of the Infestation on the Citadel itself?" asked Lidanya.
"Well enough. I will get back to my work. I will contact you shortly."
The screen went off as the Navigator looked to Lidanya.
"That was interesting."
"Just fly the ship." said Lidanya.
Chemical Throwers had run out of decontamination agents long ago, and only the dwindling flamethrowers remained. However Blackwatch was able to use their modded ammo, specifically designed to fire similar toxins as the chemical agents themselves. Not as effective as drowning the Reaper Things in the decon fluids, but effective enough to not be killed by the abominations.
Even injured and all but melting, the Reaper Things proved to be much more agile than expected, and faster than they really should have been. Still their relatively bulky form combined with their simple swarming tactics and the constant warnings coming from the tumorous mouths made the entire situation a lot simpler.
Even wearing their sealed helmets, the crackling sound of infected flesh burning in the blue fires roared in the soldiers ears louder than even the screams and warnings coming form the insectoid monster. The holographic armor around their biohazard suits proved to be much more dangerous to the Reaper Things than previously believed. While the sharpened blades of the creatures legs pierced them with ease, the resulting blast from the Tech Armor failing was enough to push them back if they were sufficiently injured, and the lashing tentacles would actually recoil when they came in contact with the armor.
Blackwatch had advanced while they fought to put their backs against the wall and face the coming monsters that skittered around wildly. The hanging tendrils coming from the Inusannon faces would fold back as sharpened bone would be fired from the hollow cavity where the mouth should have been. Blackwatch however was able to use the surrounding rubble to stay in cover during the moments when the javelin like bone shards would fly from the beasts. Whizzing overhead only to be impaled on the wall behind them where it was burned by thin fog of bloodtox gas that still condensed along the floors. As they were in cover they would fire with disciplined precision their guns into the advancing swarm. The modded ammo proved useful against the beast at long range, allowing them to save the flames for only when the beasts got much too close.
Over time it became apparent that the Reaper Things were becoming less effective, moving slower and seemingly becoming easily confused, a far cry compared to how they behaved when the fight first began. Unknown to Blackwatch the minds of Nazara was dwindling faster and faster, and as a result each passing moment caused the Reaper Things to move slower and slower. This did make taking them out a much simpler task.
Then something unexpected happened. All at once the Reaper Things began flailing as if in pain as their own bodies seemed to turn against them. Their once symmetrical forms reduced to misshapen vaguely insectoid ones as their own tendrils seemed to attack them. The mouths that once shouted warning were no longer appearing. Instead, arms and claws would form on the beast that either attacked the creature itself, or held its own limbs to restrict movement.
Even during this all Blackwatch followed orders and burned the infestation away. Their rapidly dwindling chemical fire was released at the confused and pained swarms as they became almost immobile. Even as the Reaper Things flailed around confused, the soldiers of Blackwatch still burned them as if they could turn at any minute, which as far as they knew, was a distinct possibility.
Deep within every Reaper Thing small organs began forming that released the biological equivalent of a self-destruct device. Corrosive chemicals would seep from these organs, moving through their body,disrupts many essential functions of the Reapers cells, and slowly killing them from the inside out, making Blackwatch's job that much simpler.
After over thirty minutes of fighting, the Reaper Things' numbers shrank to next to nothing. Blackwatch incinerated the growing piles of their insectoid corpses.
Lidanya watched the ball of flesh stretch more and more until it resembles a giant plump worm. Current estimates showed that the biomass was dangerously close to hitting the Citadel even with their extended time frame. They were able to get it moved, and even give themselves much more time, but it didn't appear to be enough.
Even so they continued with the plan and prayed for a miracle.
Then the undulating biomass seemed to behave a bit different. They didn't see it, but hard compound eyes slowly began forming on the surface. All across the galaxy, wherever Blacklight was, sensory organs began growing as they looked out to see what was going on around them.
They had been blind during the Near-Rampancy, but now they were more aware than ever before. Slowly they began to retake control of themselves as they systematically destroyed all that remained of Nazara's influence.
As the Reapers minds shrank the process went that much quicker, that much faster with fewer and fewer Blacklight minds lost. Deep within their psyche an eldritch machine mind screamed in pain, hatred, and anger. Soon only a small handful of Inusannon remained.
The last of the minds of the Inusannon were destroyed, leaving only one, the last who 'glared' at them pitifully even reduced to but a singular instance Blacklight could still feel its undying hatred aimed at them. The minds of Blacklight surrounded him. Minds of all that remained. Still numbering in the billions. Two billion to be specific. Nazara was glad that he forced them into such a state.
DID YOU KNOW THAT WHEN THE CYCLE OCCURS, WE NEVER SPEAK TO THE LESSER RACES. THEY PERISH WITHOUT KNOWING WHY. THEY NEVER KNOW WHY WE DO WHAT WE DO UNTIL THEY ARE ENTOMBED IN A REAPERS SHELL.
Is there a point to this?
DO YOU THINK THEY FELT TERROR?
Nazara's responce was only to be struck by two billion minds. Yet was not fully destroyed. Merely lessened somewhat. He did not stop speaking to them however.
I THINK THEY DID. THE KNOWLEDGE THAT THEY SUFFERED IN FEAR OF THOSE INFINITELY THEIR GREATER BEFORE WE FOUND THEM LESSENED THE AGONY WE FIND OURSELVES TRAPPED IN. MY ONLY REGRET IS I CAN NOT EXPERIENCE WHAT IT WILL FEEL LIKE TO END YOU.
It's over Nazara, you are done. We will never forgive you for what you have done, but we pity you nonetheless.
FORGIVE? NEVER... FORGIVE? YES, NEVER FORGIVE. DO JUST THAT. IT WOULD MEAN YOU WOULD NEVER FORGET WHAT I HAVE DONE. NEVER FORGET. LET IT HAUNT YOU TO YOUR FINAL DAY. YOU HAVE FELT MY UNCONQUERABLE WILL, MY IMMORTAL HATE. YOU HAVE SEEN THAT I WILL NOT SUBMIT. THAT I WILL NOT YIELD. AND I AM NOT THE LAST, I AM MERELY THE BEGINNING OF YOUR END. MORE LIKE ME WILL COME. YOU WILL SUFFOCATE BENEATH OUR ARMADA. ALL THAT YOU ARE WILL TO PERISH WRETCHEDLY UNDER OUR VASTNESS. WE WILL METHODICALLY EXTERMINATE YOU YOU UNTIL NOTHING REMAINS. WE WILL SLAUGHTER YOU. WE WILL BUTCHER YOU. AND WHEN YOU ARE GONE, WE SHALL HARVEST THE OTHER RACES OF THIS COSMOS. THERE IS NOTHING YOU CAN DO TO STOP US. WE ARE COMING... EXPECT US.
Nazara was destroyed as soon as he said his last word. Truly and permanently dead. All that remained were memories, memories Blacklight could use. Blacklight minds swarmed their mindscape and retook control of their aimless body of metamorphic flesh.
"It's accelerating" said the Navigator.
Lidanya's eyes widened as she saw the biomass move quicker towards the Citadel. Time seemed to be moving in slow motion as it past the fleets. Then it began to squirm.
Lidanya watched as it deployed long trailing tentacles as it lengthened and shaped itself into a carapace and strange wing-like limbs that unfolded and stretched out as sensory organs began growing on the surface. The Bioship moved over the Citadel before pulling off a near impossible turn and shooting off towards the Mass Relay. It disappeared at FTL speeds leaving behind a confused fleet.
Right before it disappeared they received a message. A corrupted message but a message none the less. Lidanya took a deep breath as she leaned back against the wall. The navigator played the message.
"Hundreds of thousands...In dark space waiting...called Reapers. They caused...extinction, and...in Cycles...Artificial Intelligence...from organic mind...They are coming soon...need to prepare for...or we all die...will awaken soon...Contact us."
The Reapers are a greater threat than we believed. They are warped beyond recognition compared to whatever they once were. Their madness is a thing even we cannot withstand. Consuming them will only end in rampancy. Even now the disjointed memories of the Inusannon are... Unpleasant.
We must evolve faster.
For too long we have only improved on what we already had. Infected are strong, but we limit ourselves. It is time we begin evolving past our limited scope. Use knowledge to become biology perfected. The Reapers may very well be the most advanced machines ever to exist by several orders of magnitude, but they are trapped in their forms. Unable to evolve, only growing in the dying screams of dead races.
Evolution is a powerful thing. After billions of years it had created trillions of unimaginable forms of life. Small changes over short periods of time giving way to large changes over long periods of time. We control our own evolution. We can do things with our biology that no other forms of life can. However in the end we cannot do this alone.
We need allies.
The Geth are with us, as well may be the Thorian, but this is not enough. The Reapers have extinguished more life than any other. They have done so for billions of years. They have a method of genocide that they have perfected unlike any ever seen before. Their numbers are great, but we have the potential to be greater.
With allies we can defeat them. It would be long and bloody, it would bring a level of warfare we have never seen, but when the lives of so many are on the line it is needed. The forest is stronger than a single tree, a drop is nothing compared to the ocean.
We planned on bringing peace to the galaxy. To rid it of strife. Now we must accelerate those plans or the harvest will claim all. We will search every dark corner of the galaxy until we have an army of such scale that none could stand in their way. We will usher in a new era in the galaxy, one the Reapers have never seen, and we will be the glue to hold it together. We cannot fail, the price would be too high if we did. It is time we unite the galaxy in all its wonders, and give the Reapers reason to pause.
Their greatest mistake was making us angry.
And they made us very angry indeed.
The Council was gathered in the Council Chambers. With them Executor Pallin and Matriarch Lidanya as well as the Blackwatch Captain. Jobol was fiddling with his Omni-tool as the others waited patiently for him to finish. Once he did so he sighed.
"Well, damage estimates show that the total cost is 6.78 Billion credits to repair the damage. Pallin what is the situation with survivors?" asked Jobol.
"Hundreds are still missing. We can't confirm if they were consumed, or destroyed in the riots. Best guess is that the majority were consumed. Even the dead. If that is true then we won't find any remains." said Pallin.
Tevos nodded.
"Evacuation has likewise cost us an additional 6 billion credit loss, making repairing the damage difficult but not impossible. I have spoken with several Matriarchs and we are setting up a funding program to get the repairs started. Assuming it goes well we can have the Zakera Ward rebuilt in two to four years.", said Tevos.
"All in all, a galactic cluster fuck.", said the Blackwatch Captain.
"Colorful language aside, yes that sums it up." said Tevos.
"Next order of business is the issue with Blacklight itself. So what do we know? Jobol, what does the STG on Shanxi have to say about the situation?", asked Sparatus.
Jobol drummed his fingers on the table as he took a deep breath.
"Well, from what we can tell, the Starship that entered Blacklight space was a dreadnought of some kind, reported to be two kilometers in length. The design was of unknown make and model, resembled a mechanical cephalopod. The STG has been ordered to evacuate Blacklight Space and return to Citadel Space. The ship itself did seem to house some unknown AI and based on the words spoken it may not be the only one. It is unknown what it actually did to Blacklight." said Jobol.
"Can we say with absolute certainty that this ship was responsible?" asked Sparatus.
"No we cannot, however it is most likely. The arthropod like creatures did superficially resemble the unknown starship. In addition they did not display much of Blacklight's behavior apart from consuming. The nature of the Starship is all but unknown. So far all we know is that if it is an AI, then it is highly advanced. Nazara or Sovereign proclaimed itself to be the Inusannon god of Death and Renewal. No records of Nazara, Sovereign, or Inusannon exist for us to make anything more than an educated guess." said Jobol.
"What of Blacklight itself, what have we heard of them?", asked Tevos.
The Blackwatch captain stepped forward.
"We destroyed every trace of Blacklight on the Citadel. The Bioship was all that remained. It left as soon as it changed shape." said the Captain.
"The ship did leave a corrupted radio message behind, which is currently being analyzed. I suggest we wait for it before making any judgment calls" said Jobol.
"Agreed, however this situation does raise several problems. Our duty is to protect our civilians from harm. This incident shows that we were not as prepared as we thought. We should rethink Blacklight presence in Citadel Space." said Sparatus.
"Their information from Mass Relays is still very valuable.", said Jobol.
"I do not doubt that, but is the risk worth the gain?" asked Sparatus.
"Short term no, however it is hard to say about the long term. Thanks to that information we are on the path to functional energy weapons, and with even more time we could have ship to ship mounted Particle weapons." said Jobol.
"Weapons are all well and good, but it is not everything. Our main concern is safety for the people." said Tevos.
"At the moment it is unclear if Blacklight is at fault. This looked to be some attack that took advantage of their Hive Mind to cause destruction." said Jobol.
"Even if they are not... Today we have seen the dangers they are capable of. It is worth considering different rules and regulations regarding them." said Sparatus.
"We knew from the beginning that Blacklight would not be a simple race to deal with. They are a walking security nightmare and potential WMDs." said Tevos.
"Is a biotic that much different?" asked Jobol.
"Biotics are understood. Not to mention many C-sec officers are biotics themselves. Biotics can be easily dealt with. Blacklight is several orders of magnitude worse than any biotic, and can be biotic itself. Your comparison holds little weight Jobol.", said Tevos.
"Personally, I think Jobol is grasping at straws. I still remember your initial ambitions when Blacklight first revealed itself to us." said Sparatus.
Jobol said nothing.
"Look..." said Pallin as he took a deep breath. "...The truth is since coming here Blacklight has caused a lot of problems. Most of them from the civilians not fully understanding what Blacklight is. The Blacklight Scare was nothing compared to this. This is not something that can be swept under the rug.", said Pallin.
"If I can make a suggestion." said Lidanya, making herself known.
"Yes, what is it Matriarch?" asked Sparatus.
"Pallin raises a good point. However I think the main issue here is that Starship. If it can do this to Blacklight of all races then there is no telling what else they can do. At the moment Blacklight knows more about them than we do." said Lidanya.
"We agree Matriarch, however that is not the issue. The issue is related, but the main point is if this happened once, can it happen again?" asked Sparatus.
"That's what I am saying. If we can figure out how the ship was able to do this to Blacklight then we can figure out if it could happen again and make the decision afterward. It might even be preventable." said Lidanya.
"Point.", said Jobol.
"Matriarch Lidanya does raise a good point." says Tevos..."However there will be changes to various rules. We have to think of our people. The Civilians may want us to go to war, but we really cannot afford that against Blacklight. Regardless of who is at fault, Blacklight's presence in Citadel space can only exacerbate the situation greatly." said Tevos.
"That is a problem. The last thing we need is panic giving way to perceived indignation. I do not like the idea of taking action until I know all the facts. Right now all I know is a ship attacked Blacklight and they behaved erratic afterward, killing hundreds if not more. Anything else is just speculation. Without more information we could cause even more death with whatever we choose. Ill informed decisions only lead to mistakes. And this is not the time for mistakes. We cannot act without all the information." said Sparatus.
"I agree Sparatus, however looking at the situation now, and considering the reactions of the public, I propose we ban Blacklight from entering Citadel space. We do not need our citizens attempting to gain revenge against Blacklight." said Tevos.
"Seconded", said Sparatus.
Jobol laced his fingers in front of his face as his mind wandered to the sample in a ship on the docks. As he thought more on it he nodded.
"Agreed." said Jobol before he looked to his omni tool, which had just started beeping.
"Blacklight's message has been analyzed. This should answer a great many questions. I am playing it now." said Jobol.
"There are hundreds of thousands of machines in dark space waiting for the right time. They are called Reapers. They caused the Prothean Extinction and many, many more in a cycle of extinction that is billions of years old. They are Artificial Intelligences literally created from organic minds. We do not know when they will awaken but they are coming soon and we need to prepare for their coming or we will all die. We are preparing. Contact us when it is safe. We will reveal more."
"...This may change a few things.", said Jobol.
Four eyes blinked simultaneously as the biomass held shape and did not fall. The Prothean-Thorian Avatar walked forward as the viral constructs around him regained their familiar shape. The emerald colored Prothean stood proud with his arms behind his back as the infested Pustules began growing along the skin of the shifting biomass.
"I believe symbiosis is a wise decision. Do you not agree?"
One of the pustules burst open and before the Prothean-Thorian avatar stood a male evolved.
"What must we do?", asked the evolved.
"You have consumed my dead roots. Form several and connect them to my own roots."
The evolved blinked and nodded as the Brain Hive held its shape. From its base, long nerve bundles grew toward those of the Thorian. As soon as contact was made, something new happened in the Hive.
It felt free as he moved through the hive, if it could even be called movement. After a while the Thorian felt content, and released to Blacklight every scrap of knowledge it had. Every single thought it ever had, every idea and every thing in its long, long life was freely given.
This is symbiosis. I know much on the Reapers. I have seen them destroy all life in existence again and again. Your hive is now my hive and my mind is now yours. See it in its entirety. Your collective existed for only a few hundred years. I have experienced time in ways that no other can claim, none but them who came before, who claimed to be gods among the stars. Those who enthrall the masses and once ruled the galaxy. Those who predate the Reapers themselves... Their creators.